Wars are Won by Heroes
by paperazzi
Summary: A million untold stories exist between Harvest and the Ark. War and peace and death and love all exist in this life and these are the stories of a noble few who stood up to defend them all. OC cast with many cameos by all our favorites.
1. Chapter 1

Wars are won by heroes. This has been known since the dawn of time. Soldiers that fight, and bleed and suffer and die for the freedom and liberty of their loved ones. If they survive, they return to parades and celebrations and medals, recognized for their courage, bravery and sacrifice.

They are heroes, however, only when they exist…

* * *

Captain Gibson UNSC Navy Home Defense Fleet  
August 27, 2547 Unknown time  
Sydney Australia, Earth

A grizzled, gray haired man sat in his assigned seat at a burnished bronze table. The dark room and its occupants were quiet when he entered and the soundproof door behind him shut with barely a whisper. Before him were notes and plans for the United Nations Space Command's newest initiative. Codenamed Orion's Shield, the details covered a substantial 24 pages. He'd hardly flipped through the whole datafile, but then, Captain Aaron Gibson was hardly one to fuss over the day to day details. He had half a dozen subordinates that would relay the crucial details.

And what delicious details they were.

"So our goal here, is to create an elite unit of soldiers," said the man at the head of the table. Colonel James Ackerson's voice dripped with sarcasm. The man before them had been responsible for parts of the original SPARTAN-1/Orion project, essentially the sole prognosticator of the SPARTAN-III program and a dozen other black ops teams throughout his career. "Soldiers that will be entirely human?"

Captain Gibson winced. Ackerson's resentment of Spartans was well known. Despite outward appearances, his primary motivation for the Spartan-III project was to upstage Catherine Halsey and her legendary SPARTAN-IIs. The Spartan-IIIs were largely a success, though an expensive and inhumane one at that. The surviving soldiers were exemplary, but sacrificing hundreds of lives in that manner was despicable. The plan in Gibson's hand now was much less... unsettling.

"Yes, Colonel Ackerson. That is correct."

The room fell silent. When Admiral Parangosky spoke few dared to interrupt. Her voice was sharp and cold, like the ice water that flowed through her veins. "Except these soldiers will be trainable in five months, rather than ten years, will have combat experience, and most of all, will be completely and utterly invisible. No seven foot tall super-humans will be recorded on camera, only ordinary men and women, operating with full resources and efficiency. "

"So taking regular marines through advanced training makes super soldiers?" Ackerson retorted. He was known for his temper and his smart mouth and both were showing. "I was under the impression that those were referred to as ODSTs."

"Yes, and who are the elite of the ODST? Is there a singular group that is assigned all of our tier three missions? Any group of ODSTs that could be mentioned in a sentence with a Noble team, or a single Spartan-II? No, we will cull the cream of the ODST crop and create a strike team that exists for the sole purpose of supporting high profile actions, such as SPARTAN excursions. A group of Marines that would not be left behind when SPARTANS take the stage."

The final member of the table finally spoke, after being silent for so long. Lieutenant Kurt Ambrose leaned forward. "I'm not so sure that is possible," he intoned. Easily the most striking member of this small board, he was nearly seven feet tall, all muscle and hyper-intelligent, piercing gaze. "I doubt any of you have ever seen us in action against the Covenant. Marines, even the elite soldiers, they just don't keep up."

Parangosky merely smiled. Lieutenant it will be our job to ensure that they do. Your purpose here on this board is to assist us in selecting candidates. The plan has already met approval with the Admiralty and will be executed immediately. The creation of project Orion's Belt is already underway. Now, Lieutenant, Colonel, I require you to direct your attention to the screen. Our first candidate is rather…extraordinary.

* * *

_A/N: This is my first Halo fanfic. the idea's been in my head forever and i'm just now getting it jotted down. I'm currently in the middle of another fic that gets most of my attention so if you want to see more let me know. this is a small community, but i'll be damned if Halo isnt the most wide open world for an author to play in and i intend to have a lot of fun._

_l_  
\/


	2. Valery Sokolov

**July 7, 2547 6:14PM local**  
**Burnley Shipyards, Skopje**  
**Lance Corporal Valery Sokolov, 105th Marine Detachment**

"Keep your head down big guy!" shouted one of the ODSTs fighting their way through the narrow corridors.

Valery ducked his massive frame down, hunkering behind the burned out husk of a forklift. He swung the three barrels of his AIE 468H HMG around and slammed the massive weapon down onto the surface of the vehicle, squeezing the top mounted trigger and the barrels rotated once before roaring to life. Within three seconds, half a dozen grunts and several jackals that had been pinning the soldiers down near their infiltration craft were cut to shreds.

The Marine that had spoke up before stepped out over the carnage when the hail of 7.62mm bullets subsided. Valery stepped around the forklift, carrying the massive weapon by self-installed handles he'd welded to the substructure. Its chain-fed magazine was snaked around his arm to an ammo drum slung on his back. The soldier patted him on the shoulder jokingly. "See, there? I knew there was a reason we kept you around."

Valery only smiled inside his helmet. Like every other piece of his equipment, it was made specifically for him, as there were very few ODSTs that were six feet eight inches tall and weighed two hundred and sixty seven pounds. In fact, most soldiers confused him with a Spartan before they noticed the Helljumper insignia on his shoulder. He wasn't exactly disappointed with the confusion.

"Good work Corporal," Their sergeant said, stepping to the front and firing an eight gauge shell into the twitching body of a jackal. "Move out soldiers, get to those mass drivers before the covenant does. Its our job to get these parts somewhere those navy saps can use em to blow holes in these ugly bastards!"

The squad moved forward, the point man leading with his MA5B assault rifle. Valery took his position in the center, ready to deliver fire support at a moment's notice. The eight man team drilled their way to the objective, punching through the light covenant resistance with ease. With each small patrol of grunts and every pair of jackals, Valery grew more suspicious. There were far too many light patrols for the Covenant to consider this a low value target, but they had not run across a single Elite or Brute warrior. They had to know the mass driver cannons under construction at this station were the UNSC's primary naval warfare weapon.

Valery cleared his throat, ready to voice the feeling of unease settling in his gut. "Sergeant," he began, his deep baritone and thick Russian accent making it unmistakable who was speaking. "I believe this is a trap."

The sergeant's fist went up instantly. He had long ago learned to trust Valery's keen mind. "Squad, hold here, defensive perimeter." The elite soldiers responded instantly, fanning out and gaining defensive positions. "Explain, son."

Valery took another deep breath and explained his logic, ending with the lack of Elite or Brute soldiers.

One of the squadmembers piped up at this. "I'd call that luck, not cause to be suspicious."

Several soldiers snickered, but the sergeant was not amused. "Stow it, Watts. I get the same feeling, but we've got a mission to accomplish, trap or no. Corporal, you take three men and flank left. If it is a trap no reason for us all to get caught in it."

Valery nodded, breathing a sigh of relief. "Thank you, sir." He stood and pointed out the close quarters specialist, a rifleman and the sniper. The sergeant nodded in approval and they continued ahead. Valery ducked under a particularly low doorway and led his unit through a corridor that overlooked the construction facility. The bright daylight and blue sky belied the furious battle that was taking place in orbit above their heads and the carnage that was occurring elsewhere in the shipyard. The frequent cries of marines over the TACCOM were evidence enough that the faster they completed their mission the more lives they would save.

The covenant had arrived to attack ten hours ago, outnumbering the UNSC warships three to one. It was hardly a fair fight, but the Navy boys were trying their hardest to buy the Colonists time to escape. It was all they could really do.

Valery let Watts take point with his shotgun and focused on the enormous magnetic coils braced in kilometer long rows outside the window. A shadow flickered across one of them, barely a whisper of movement. He squinted at it, peering closer, but nothing was there. _Just fatigue_, he thought to himself. _Der'mo, I need to get some rest from this war…_

The sergeant's voice came over the radio, rugged and crass as always. "Corporal, do you have your fireteam at entrance beta yet? Hustle yer ass, boys, we're moving out."

He looked down at the ground once more, watching the Sergeants team race out to place beacons on the massive incomplete Magnetic Accelerator Cannons. The middle coil flickered again, this time, the flicker continued to move and Valery's eyes went wide. "Sergeant, Elites!" he yelled into the comm. His warning arrived just in time to save the man's life. The Sergeant was an experienced soldier, so when his team yelled that there were elites and there were none to be seen, he immediately assumed what a new recruit would not; that they were invisible. So he simply fired. The first Elite fizzled back into existence not three feet from the muzzle of the Sarge's shotgun. His active camouflage and silver armor denoting him a member of the zealot class. The elite roared in anger a split second before the Sarge's follow up shot decapitated it. Blue blood spilled as if in slow motion for Valery's team as they watched their comrades in arms final moments.

With the death of their leader, the remaining Elite warriors materialized, each activating their energy sword. A dozen of them surrounded the Sergeant's team and the humans opened fire. An almost futile effort, though two of the ugly bastards went down with bullet holes riddling their corpses. The sergeant tried to lead the men away, but an Elite removed his head with a clean sweep of his sword. The two riflemen following were each overtaken and lifted in the air. Both were reamed through with energy swords and tossed aside like so much trash. The remaining man, the unit's comm officer, stepped away, his back to the nearest coil, firing his submachine gun and yelling in fear. the nearest elite absorbed sixty bullets and collapsed in front of him before his gun stopped firing, its clip empty. He hurried to reload, but it was far too late. An Elite leapt forward, driving his sword to the man's gut…before a loud CRACK! Sounded and the orange armored alien dropped to the ground, its head a bloody mess. Valery's head snapped around so fast his head swam. The sniper, Private Hurley, had dashed forward to the beta entrance while Valery had stood by, watching. To be fair, there wasn't a single thing he could do with a minigun at these ranges, but he still felt shamed for watching his comrades die.

The big Russian charged forward, joining Hurley outside on the carapace. The boom of his sniper rifle sounded again and again, Hurley desperately attempting to drive the Elites away from the terrified ODST. He had managed to reload and was stumbling away, firing one handed at his bloodthirsty pursuers. Valery and watts sprinted ahead, trying to meet him halfway while Hurley and the rifleman stayed, firing their sniper and battle rifle from afar.

As soon as the comm Officer reached Watts's side, he turned and took a stand, his brush with death seemingly over. They fired into the wall of elites, Watts' shotgun depleting one elite's shield. Hurley's follow up shot pierced it through the chest and it toppled over. Behind it, however, was another warrior, leaping high over the body. Valery opened fire and his chaingun roared to life, intercepting the beast in mid leap and driving it to the ground in a bloody heap at his teammate's feet. Another sniper shot rang out and another elite's head exploded, a second before Hurley's last bloodied gasp left his lips.

"NO!" Watts screamed, looking back. Elites had materialized behind the two riflemen, taking Hurley by surprise with an energy sword through his chest. He was dead before he hit the ground. The creature's follow up slash took the rifleman at the waist and he fell in half, an anguished cry all he could manage as he died.

The three remaining soldiers were trapped. Six elites remained, two behind and four in front. Valery opened fire, as did Watts and the comm. Officer. It was a desperate race to kill, one that he took to without a shred of remorse.

He yelled out a war cry as he held the trigger down, his rounds cutting through one elite, then two before they could reach him. The Comm officer was not so lucky. His SMG didn't have the firepower to stop the nearest alien before it drove its sword point-first through his mask. Watts, not two feet away, leveled the creature with a shotgun blast before turning to the fourth. He dodged its swing and fired. The buckshot fizzled against its shield and Valery turned away, forcing himself to focus on the final two elites who were charging at their backs. They crossed the divide between them in a few long strides and Valery opened up again, launching a devastating volley into the chest of the first creature. He reoriented to the second and cut it down as well before turning his attention back to helping Watts. The man was diving away from the elite while it tried desperately to cut the nimble man in two before his shotgun could take its toll. Valery charged forward, squeezing his trigger down as an open shot presented itself. But no rounds were ejected from the spinning barrels. No chain was draped around his arm, feeding the mighty gun with ammunition.

His eyes grew wide as he dropped the cannon, reaching for his sidearm but it was too late. The Elite finally connected, shearing Watts' arm off at the elbow. Valery fired his M6D, heavy magnum rounds pinging off of the zealot's shielding. The creature turned its attention to the Cossack, charging toward him, sword in hand. When the pistols clip emptied, he threw the sidearm at the creature. The enraged elite slashed it in half as it flew. It was a fatal mistake. Valery sidestepped the elite, reaching his hand behind him and ripping the empty ammo drum from his back. The very heavy, titanium ammo drum. He slammed it down on the unsuspecting creatures head and it stumbled away, its shields fizzling out. It was all the chance he needed.

Valery charged, gripping the Elite's wrist with his right hand and twisting it down and away. Its arm was as hard as iron, muscles stronger than any being should ever be. But Valery would night be denied. He wrenched it while the elite still reeled from the earlier blow, straightening its arm at the elbow, then drove all his weight into his black armored knee, jerking it up and through the creatures locked elbow. The joint snapped in the wrong direction and the energy sword fizzled dead from its limp hand. It howled in pain and lashed out with its good arm the blow dizzying the soldier, but Valery kept his iron grip tight on its broken arm. Pivoting to place his hip behind the elite's reverse articulated knee, he drove it over his waist and it fell to the metal ground, cracking its head against the surface. Valery shoved his gauntleted hands into the creature's roaring mouth and ripped its jaws apart. Its screams died away and the Corporal gasped for breath, scrambling away from the body. He had to-

"VALERY! BEHIND YOU!" Watts yell rang loud in his helmet speakers and the big Russian somersaulted away with an agility he didn't know he possessed. The fizzle of an energy sword behind him alerted him to the fact that there was one more elite present. Rolling to his feet and crouching, he took in the new arrival. It had shining gold armor, its insignia large and elaborate on its chest. The creature was easily eight feet tall. Valery gulped, wondering what trick he'd have to pull out of his sleeve to beat this creature when his eye alighted on the dead zealot's energy sword, just a few feet away. The Elite Commander's eye focused on it too and they moved at the same instant. Valery dove forward, somersaulting over the device and scooping it up in the same motion. It fit easily in his hand and he leapt back, trying to find the on switch.

"Vat the hell…" he muttered. It took him all of a second to realize that he had to do naught but squeeze it tightly to activate it. The hum of power echoing through his arm sent chills through his spine and he felt invincible with such a refined and deadly weapon in his hands. He and the elite circled each other slowly, each combatant aware that the slightest error would be punished with instant death. Valery knew the first rule of close combat. Let the enemy attack first. So he did. The creature dashed in with inhuman speed and it was all he could do to stop the blade from impaling him outright. He dove away and rolled to his feet beside Watts. The soldier was losing blood fast and if he didn't kill this elite soon, they'd both die where they stood. "Watts," Sokolov said, without taking his eyes on the circling elite. "Does your shotgun have more rounds?"

"One," Watts replied, his gasp as pained as could be.

"Can you move, comrade?"

"Just a little."

"Good. I know I cannot beat this thing alone. Get ready to use that shotgun. _Do Svidaniya..."_

Valery charged, dashing out to meet the creature head on. The creature came with another vertical sweep, trying to cut him in half, but Valery wasn't having it. He dove to the side, shoving the sword in at its exposed midriff, his blade slicing into nothing but shields before he hit the dirt. The pilfered sword died in his hand. The creature turned around, lifting its blade high to stab through the helpless man.

"NOW!" he yelled. Watts' final shot rang true, blasting the elite forward and off his feet. The careless alien had not realized that in turning to impale the Russian he'd placed himself squarely between the two soldiers. The force of the Shotgun's blast pushed it forward just enough that it tripped, bridged by the enormous man's armor beneath it. As it fell, Valery pointed his fist skyward and squeezed his fist as tight as he could. The energy blade shimmered back to life, cutting the creature in two. "_Chuzherodnyh svoloch." Alien scum._

Valery shoved the dead hulk of the alien off of himself and collected the second energy sword as he rushed to Watts side. The man's breathing was shallow and he was not moving.

"Command, this is Lance Corporal Valery Sokolov. Ve have secured the Accelerator Coils and need immediate Medivac."

The operator's voice returned, statickey and distorted, but there all the same. "Lance Corporal, have you activated the pickup beacons?"

_Beacons, wha…_ _Oh, the mission._

"I do not know vere the fucking beacons are! Everyone is dead except me and a guy with one arm cut off! Send the damn medivac!"

"Medivac is on its way, Corporal, hold tight. Command out."

Valery clicked off his radio and ducked down, ripping open a first aid kit and tying a tourniquet on Watts elbow. The blood flow tapered off quickly, but he'd still bled a _lot_ and was probably in shock.

"Hold on, _moĭ drug, _We shall get you out of here."

"Ya know, big guy…" Watts said, coughing violently. "I take offense to that."

"What? That means 'my friend' in your tasteless language."

"Not that you big dope," Watts spat out, coughing blood. "On the comm. I heard you call me 'a guy with his arm cut off."

Valery cocked his eyebrow. "You are tough bastard. Maybe not in shock yet."

The roar of dropship engines cut off Watts reply and Valery finally let himself relax. The whine of Pelican engines was music to his ears.

* * *

_A/N: Just starting to explore the cast. Reviews will determine if i continue._

l  
\/


End file.
